Ricciardo’s Swift Monza Explanation to Avoid 'Fool' Tag

Daniel Ricciardo revealed that he quickly sought to speak with Nico Hülkenberg at Monza after sending the Haas F1 driver off the track during the first lap of the Italian Grand Prix. The Australian did not want his rival to have a negative image of him.

“I just wanted to make a quick point and see his perspective,” Ricciardo stated. “I first apologized, then asked how bad it was. He told me I hadn’t left him enough space.”

“I also wanted to know if I had made a sharp move or if I had gradually moved to the other side. I like being aggressive, but I’m not dirty. So I wanted to make sure that, from his point of view, it was just aggressiveness and that I wasn’t a jerk. But I think I just elbowed out too much. So yes, I apologized.”

The RB F1 driver admits that his aggressiveness increased too much during the first few hundred meters of the race: “I felt the impact, but I don’t know if he had half a car in the grass or if it was just a wheel.”

“So yes, I don’t know. Anyway, it’s clear that I didn’t leave him enough space, period. It was a bit frustrating, in a way, because I’ve struggled to make the first laps this year, you know, that’s the big picture.”

“I don’t think I gained many positions on that move. Up to Ascari, everything was fine and I was a bit more aggressive, which I had been missing, but then, I might have had too much fun being aggressive and became too aggressive.”

“I joke about it, but obviously, I need to better judge these things and not ignore them. But beyond that, overall, we weren’t fast enough, so without this incident, we wouldn’t have scored any points.”

Ricciardo has no issue with how he personally handled the situation, but he is frustrated that he misjudged his defense, which led to a heavy penalty for him.

“Of course, we will review the situation, but if I had left a bit more space for Nico, we wouldn’t have had a penalty and wouldn’t have put ourselves in this position. So I have to accept being part of that, but as I said, I feel bad about the outcome, but I don’t feel bad about the approach.”